


Like Rats in a Cage

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-02
Updated: 2008-12-02
Packaged: 2018-01-25 04:30:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1631618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He doesn't want an army, or power. That isn't what he wants at all, but it might go hand in hand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Rats in a Cage

**Author's Note:**

> This was a challenge to write, and I loved doing it. I tried to work in hints of at least all three pairings given on the prompt; at least one, I hope, succeeded. Much thanks to my beta reader astrangerenters for looking this over for me!
> 
> Written for Wildcard

 

 

They thought he was stupid.

Well, perhaps stupid was a strong word- they thought he was roughly akin to a child, someone they could control and mold to their desires. They thought he didn't understand life, or that he couldn't comprehend their method of fighting. Jake didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. Cassie looked at him with a never-ending sparkle of sympathy in her eyes that made his stomach turn. Rachel could barely contain her disgust when she glanced in his direction. Marco avoided making quippy comments towards him. And Tobias- well, that was another ball of wax entirely.

Contrary to their thoughts, David was none of those things. He was not stupid. He was not childlike nor naive nor malleable. David did what he wanted, when he wanted, and no alien war was going to change that, especially not with his past on the line. He understood very well what was going on. He had understood since the pay phone call on the street, listening to the squeal of the tires when the car had shown up.

And he knew perfectly well that his life was at stake.

He would show them how wrong they really were about him.

\-------

[And you can promise me that you will carry out your half of the bargain?]

David struggled not to let his agitation show. He was handing the band of "Andalite bandits" to the Visser, and the alien still could not be bothered to trust him. David knew he deserved far more than just trust; for his services, the Yeerks ought to make him a general. He narrowed his eyes, and forced the rising ire back down.

"I can," he said. The Visser's stalk eyes swiveled to land on him, and he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end under the ferocity in the gaze.

[You will not have what you seek until the deed is done,] the Visser reminded him. [I have encountered such insolence before, and will not stand to face it again.]

"I told you I would," David said, temper flaring once more. "But I get to make the first move- they're mine."

[Exactly how do you plan to make this work?]

"They don't trust me," David spat.

[I can't imagine why not.] The reply was sarcastic, but David ignored it. He had bigger fish to fry, and acting out against the Visser was, as much as he hated to admit it, not his best bet at the moment. He was treading on thin ice, and needed to keep his footing firm.

"You let me start this, and I'll bring you what you want," he said.

[Elfangor's brother?]

"Yes." He didn't claim to understand what the Yeerk would want with an Andalite aristh, but it didn't really bother him. "You get what you want, and I get what I want."

[I am not certain that you truly know what it is that you want.]

"Then that's my problem, and not yours," David hissed.

\-----

He knew where he would find the group. The mall was bustling, the low din steadily rising as he looked across the railing to the food court. He knew Jake and the others thought themselves largely invincible there, thought that they blended in and were not noticed; they were wrong. They stood out like a sore thumb against the backdrop of the inane activity and movement. They were foolish, and had somehow lucked out to avoid being caught time and time again.

David filed this insight away, and moved towards the table.

Jake was the first to notice him, and he waved him over with quick motions.

"We didn't think you'd show up," he said. There was a crinkling around his mouth; an expression David could not discern.

"Well, what else do I have to do?" David asked, sliding into one of the hard food court chairs. He worked on making his expression sour, and kept his eyes focused downward. He could only hope that the others would take his actions the way he intended- a depressed kid who still couldn't wrap his head around what had happened to his family.

It seemed to work. Cassie slid her hand over the tabletop and touched his arm gently, empathy written all over her features.

"We're glad you're here," she said, and the worst part was that she meant it.

"Where are the others?" David asked.

Marco jerked one hand towards the large neon 'Restroom' sign, located snugly between the McDonald's and the Arby's.

"Ax managed to get nacho cheese sauce all over himself, and Tobias took him to the bathroom to try and wash it off." One corner of Marco's mouth quirked upwards. "The last thing we need is people staring at the crazy teenager with cheese covering his shirt."

David let his gaze linger on the bathroom only for a moment, and then shook his head, hoping his tussled hair added to his rather pathetic image. He had very little to go on other than their perception of him, and he was banking on it to work in his favor.

"Guess I'll go, too," he said. "Wash up before eating. My mom always used to-"

He let his voice trail off in a way that ended almost with a whine, and the effect was instantaneous. Cassie's hand clasped tighter around his forearm in a genuine gesture of support, and then let go when he rose. The faces he left at the table all bore identical sympathetic, pity-filled expressions.

He had to stifle his laughter as he entered the restroom.

Ax was standing in front of the sinks with both hands up in the air, as if getting them out of the way, and the front of his shirt was very nearly soaked with water. David could make out tiny bubbles on the fabric grains, indicating the soap used. Tobias was brushing furiously at it with a wad of paper towels.

"-think you just made it worse," Tobias sighed, trying to mop up as much of the excess water as he could. "You know, you don't need to actually dunk yourself in the water when you spill something on your clothes."

"Yes," Ax said, blinking. "No dunking. D-dunking. That is a funny word."

"Yeah, it's a great word," Tobias agreed, and then stopped, hand poised over the trash with the wet towels in his fist. He'd finally looked over his shoulder to see David standing in the doorway. There was a long moment in which neither Ax nor Tobias spoke, and David looked down at his feet, shuffling his weight from side to side a bit. It seemed to work; Tobias spoke again. "Oh. Hi."

"Sorry," David said, keeping his gaze on the toes of his Sketchers. "Just wanted to wash my hands."

"S'okay," Tobias said, easily, flipping the towels into the trash-can at last. He stood back and looked at Ax. "I think I've done everything I can here, anyway."

"Can I go back to the delicious buns, then?" Ax asked, hands still up by the sides of his head.

"Sure," Tobias told him. Ax left the restroom with a slightly uneven gait, looking like he'd fallen into one of the toilets, and leaving a dripping trail in his wake. Tobias leveled David with a neutral, unreadable expression, and then set about cleaning up some of the water that had gotten all over the fake marble countertop. David watched him for a moment before going to the opposite sink and turning the water on, letting the warmth run over his hands. He made himself look busy, which wasn't as easy as it looked; he could feel Tobias' eyes on him, still, and he knew that the other boy was taking everything in. The hawk never really did go away, even for the two hours he was human again.

It would make things harder, but David hadn't thought it would be easy.

"So," Tobias said, leaving the word hanging. He sounded very uncomfortable; out of his element. "Are you okay?"

"No," David said, and he didn't even have to lie. Tobias blinked, looking like he hadn't expected such honesty, and he shifted.

"Oh," was all he said. And then, "Is there anything we can do?"

David didn't miss the word choice- it was telling. The use of 'we' might have been unconscious, but it still signified what he had known all along. He wasn't part of the group- it was still 'them' versus 'him', no matter how much crap Cassie tried to pull about all being one team. It made him angry, and his stomach roiled, and he fought down the sensation. It might have been a slip, and he couldn't afford to give anything away.

"No," he said again, dipping his head low and hoping his bangs hid the expression on his face. "Just- dealing."

"Okay," Tobias said, and left. David spent a long moment staring at his reflection in the mirror, struggling to keep his emotions in check. He wanted everything, and he wanted it now, but if he moved too fast, the plan would fail.

He wouldn't have the Visser to fall back on should that happen.

He turned the water off with an angry twist of his wrist, and left.

\-------

"I need your help," David grit out, between clenched teeth.

[And why is that?] the Visser answered. His voice was mocking, and it set David's nerves even more on edge. [Having problems?]

"I need a way to lure him out, but he has to be human."

There was a pause, and he waited. He had risked much by coming back, and he wasn't sure the Visser would let him walk away again empty-handed. His breath caught in his throat, and he hoped the Yeerk was arrogant enough to let his pride blind him.

[Every adversary has a weakness,] came the answer. [Find it, and exploit it.]

"Weakness?" David spat. "That's your help?"

He expected something- a swipe, a yell, a threat, and nothing came, and he wondered if the Visser wasn't more invested in the plan than he was. He didn't care to think about that, since he couldn't care less about the Visser's own desires, and he chewed on his lip in thought.

"Weakness," he mused again.

\-------

"It's a miracle!" seemed to be all anyone could say as they filtered in and out of his hospital room, some dressed in the pale pink nurse scrubs, and others in the white coats of the doctors. They all had the same expression on their faces; awe, and shock, and a bit of humbled belief. It felt good to rattle them all in such a way. It felt good because he knew the truth, and he reveled in it. And they waited on him hand and foot, too happy by the recovery to notice his odd demands, or his rhythmic bathroom trips every two hours.

It was too easy. People were too trusting, too eager to believe good things that wiped out the negative. Once again, the human failing was the empathy that lay beneath the surface, waiting to come out; it got them every time.

Jake and Rachel came later, with their families, and he enjoyed even more the way Jake's jaw set and tightened, and the way Rachel's eyes flashed and her cheeks flushed with anger. They couldn't do anything in front of the other people, and they couldn't say anything, and he loved that they kept to the back, near the corner, glaring daggers and looking dark.

He was the one with the power, and it was heady and intoxicating.

They sent him home when they got the test results back and found that nothing was wrong with him. He endured being smothered with kisses from Saddler's mother, and hugs from various aunts and uncles, and finally, he could be alone during the day. He was free in a sense he'd never imagined.

It was easy to wait until the opportune moment. They were rattled. He had them scared.

He liked having them scared.

David waited until it was dark, and he knew that raptor eyes were all but useless. It hadn't taken too long to acquire the barn owl that sat outside Saddler's parents' house, and the change was similar enough to the golden eagle to be easy. The owl's eyes lit up the world, hearing exploding within his head as the tiny sounds filled his thoughts. He could see everything, and the night was his.

Flying to Rachel's was equally painless.

He landed on the big tree branch outside her bedroom window. The lights were off, but he could see her bed in the dark, see the rising and falling of her chest and blonde hair strewn across the linen of the pillow. He watched for a few minutes, checking to see if she was truly asleep. Her window wasn't open; she wasn't expecting Tobias.

[Wakey, wakey,] he said. She started, bolting upright, eyes wide- but he had to give her credit. Even shocked from sleep, she still looked confident and composed, hands balled into immediate fists. A fighter, down to her involuntary movements. [I'm going to need you to come with me.]

"Where are you?" she growled, and he could still hear it, low as it was. "Come out, you coward."

[I wouldn't think insulting me would be the best life decision right now,] he mused, preening his left side with his beak. He liked the way the owl's head swiveled around so fluidly. [That is, if you ever want to see your bird-boy again.]

Her face went pale.

"You can't threaten me," she whispered.

[Alright,] David said, preparing to take flight. He knew she'd see the shadow of his movement, and he was right; her eyes went out the window, and focused straight on his form, sitting in the tree. [I just thought you cared about him more than that.]

"What?" Rachel rasped, and then, quicker than he thought possible, she was at her window, raising the glass pane. "Wait! You stupid, son of a- don't hurt him!"

[I'm listening,] David said. She was shaking in rage, arms trembling against the wood.

"I'll come with you," she seethed, "if you promise not to hurt him."

[Alright,] David replied. [Follow me.]

\--------

Rachel thought she was tough stuff. She really did. She thought he couldn't tell that she was talking to someone else through thought-speak as they were flying, watching as well as she could with her weak eagle eyes in the darkness to see where they were going. He had counted on that. He took her to an old abandoned warehouse near the water that was nondescript enough to be ambiguous, and landed outside of it, near the broken steel door that was halfway open.

[You have to demorph, so I know you won't do anything stupid. I'll demorph first,] he said. He knew what she would take it as; a sign that he was keeping his end of the bargain. She was blood-thirsty, but she was smart enough to take what she could get. She didn't attack him as he was demorphing. Marco would have.

[Why are you doing this?] she asked, as she began the process as well. There was something in her voice that he couldn't discern- concern, maybe, for Tobias. For the theoretical situation she thought the boy was in. [We helped you!]

"Not the way I wanted you to," he said, and didn't elaborate. She stopped talking to him and finished demorphing. Her hair looked like a blonde halo around her head, and she glared at him. 

"What do you want me with me?" she asked. "I did what you asked."

"Information," he said, and gestured inside the half-open doorway with one arm. "I want to know everything you do."

She continued glowering at him, but entered in as instructed. He could see how carefully she was raising her feet up, looking for traps, eyes darting every which way. Out of morph, she couldn't contact the others.

"So what?" she asked, annoyance evident in her tone. "You threaten me with hurting Tobias to get information on the box? Well, guess what? I'm not going to tell you anything. You want to build an army? I'm not going to-"

He had planned on her searching the area immediately for signs of the hawk, and she'd done just that. She certainly hadn't expected him to hit her over the head with the 2x4 lying near the steel wall.

"You are mistaken," he told her crumpled form, looking dispassionately down with the wood still in his hand. "I don't want an army. That's not what I want at all."

\-------

Carrying her wasn't easy, but he did it. He had to move her to a different location, so the others wouldn't find them when they searched the warehouses; the Visser had set up the meeting point, and so far, it looked like he'd done his part without pulling any surprises. David wasn't betting on it all going so smoothly, but he also couldn't stop the twinge of pride in his chest. They were just stupid pawns, and they were playing right into his hands.

The most important part was still to come. He had to be correct at how the reactions would fall into place, like dominoes- and it was the one part he could only control to an extent. So he waited, patiently, praying that his chips would line up the way he wanted them to.

It was only a few hours later that he heard the sweeping of wings with his owl ears, and the scraping of talons against the roof. It was a little later than expected, but he'd given Tobias too much benefit on using his weak eyes in the dark; apparently, the boy was not as skilled as David had thought. The hawk moved in through one of the broken windows, and David let him snoop a bit. He hadn't spotted Rachel's unconscious form yet.

[I'll hurt her, you know,] David said, nonchalant, and got the pleasure of watching Tobias start in surprise. He swiveled his head, but his eyes were no match for David's owl eyes in the darkness.

[Scumbag,] Tobias growled. [What do you think you're doing?!]

[Getting what I want,] David answered. [Morph human.]

[Why should I do anything you ask?] Tobias countered, and David flew silently down from the beam to land on a metal line stretched across two boards.

[Because someone might get hurt.]

[I don't care what you do to me,] Tobias said. He sounded tough, and David didn't doubt the sincerity in his tone. That was the worst part- he knew the feeling, he knew not caring about one's own well-being.

[Not you,] David said, and laughed. [Her.]

There was silence in the structure, and he knew the hawk was thinking it over. He'd be stupid to pass it up- he couldn't see in the shadows, and the others were too far away to contact through thought-speak. Rachel was prone and vulnerable, and at David's mercy. It was a no-brainer, and Tobias still took a long moment before starting to morph human, feathers disappearing into the pink of flesh.

When he was half-way through the morph, David started his own demorph. Tobias started to move.

[I wouldn't do that,] David said, trying to hold onto his thought-speak capabilities as long as he could. [I don't have to be near her to hurt her.]

It was obvious Tobias didn't know what he meant, or if he was bluffing, and the boy stilled, looking murderous. His hands were trembling against the grimy floor, balled into angry fists.

"So you want me helpless?" Tobias spat. "Is that it? At your mercy?"

David laughed again, fully human.

"Why does everyone always think this is about power?" he asked, and rushed at Tobias, sweeping him up and pressing him against the back wall with one arm twisted behind his form. It was obvious it hurt, and Tobias' reflexes were next to nothing in human morph. He was too used to wings. He struggled against David's grasp, but could barely move. "This has never been about power."

It was still dark, but David's night vision was adjusting, and he could see Tobias' face well enough to get emotions from it. His jaw had slacked, and his eyes widened; he was beginning to understand, at least.

"Why do you care about her?" he asked, aware that his fingers were squeezing tighter around Tobias' wrist, and the boy wasn't making a noise about it.

"Why does it matter?" Tobias shot back. He sounded less confident than he had earlier; more scared, apprehensive. His muscles were twitching under David's grasp.

"Because it does."

"Why?" Tobias asked.

"Because it does!" David exploded. He pushed Tobias back against the wall again, and could hear the other boy's back hit the steel. It rang through the building and echoed back at them from all directions. "Because I don't understand it! Because she's nothing, can't you see? She's nothing!"

Tobias didn't say anything more, and David could see the whites of his eyes as his gaze darted from side to side. It was almost like he didn't have the words to explain anything, and David almost understood that; sometimes, there weren't words, and sometimes, there didn't need to be. But understanding the logic didn't mean it didn't make him mad.

"She is nothing," he repeated, leaning in closer so that his breath hit Tobias' ear. He had a firm enough grip on the boy's hands to feel the effect it had on his muscles; the shiver ran through his body, head to toe. At least the involuntary reactions of humans had stuck with him.

It made him mad. In fact, it all made him mad. David couldn't figure out why he was so angry, so angry that his hands were shaking and his jaw clenching. He'd expected Tobias to deny everything under pressure. He didn't think that whatever was there was that strong.

The plan was starting to fray.

He was gripping Tobias' wrist so hard he knew his fingers would leave angry red welts, and he stopped thinking- he was just too angry to keep thinking about the plan, and the Visser. He leaned forward further to press his mouth against the other boy's; he wasn't gentle. He couldn't stand the way he'd cared about what happened to Rachel like that- it was too much.

She was Tobias' weak link, but he hadn't realized how deep the link went.

He was demanding against Tobias' mouth, pushing and pushing and refusing to back down. He wasn't even sure if Tobias was kissing him back; it didn't matter, really, because he couldn't tell. All he could feel was heat and skimming skin and the pressure between them.

Tobias finally moved enough to disentangle them, shifting to one side. David couldn't tell if the moan from the other boy's lips was from pleasure or pain- or both.

"Stop," he whispered, but it was feeble, and David ignored it anyway. He was stronger, much stronger in human form, than Tobias. It was easy to press himself up against him.

"Don't you see?" David hissed. "She is nothing."

"No," Tobias countered; again, it was weak.

"You know I'll hurt her," David said. The unsaid portion of the threat hung between them- if. If David didn't get what he wanted, he could do anything. It was a strange thrill to know that he already could. He let his fingers wind through blond strands of hair pressed against the steel, marveling at them. The body was just a morph, after all, like a remnant of the past, and yet it was real in his hands, and against his form.

"Do what you want with me," Tobias whispered. He sounded very far away despite the proximity. "It doesn't mean anything."

Something snapped. David grabbed Tobias' chin roughly with one hand, jerking his head sideways a bit. He kissed him again, hard, and when he pulled away, he could taste blood on his tongue. He didn't know whose it was.

"It means everything," he growled.

"You're sick," Tobias choked out. There was a bump on the roof, and Tobias' eyes went skyward- and David knew. He stepped backwards, letting go of the other boy's hand and chin. More bumps, pattering like footsteps.

"No," he whispered. They weren't supposed to be there.

"Yes," Tobias said, and he looked infinitely weary, slumped against the wall.

"No!" David repeated, hands on his head. The plan was gone, the plan was destroyed, they weren't supposed to be there-

And then there was only shooting pain in the back of his head, throbbing so badly that red circles danced on the side of his vision. He crumpled, and looking up, saw bits of angry-looking blonde before giving into the darkness entirely.

\-------

[You failed.]

"No," David rasped. His entire body ached; he felt like he'd been hit by a car.

[I don't know what you were trying to do, but it's over.]

"It's not over," he struggled. He couldn't move, even through the pain- something was keeping him still, keeping him contained. He was too bleary and hazy to be able to identify what it was.

[We really tried, you know. We really tried to make you one of us.]

"I'll never be one of you," David spat. There was a moment of silence, and it felt like ages.

[No,] the voice said, sounding tired. [You never will.]

"What are you doing to me?"

[What has to be done.]

And the world went blissfully dark once more. 

 


End file.
